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Saturday, September 27, 2014

Week 50 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY to ME!!! I'm 21

I feel old with all these 18 year olds serving missions now! While in the rest of the world I would probably be at a bar right now to celebrate, instead we are going to do a service project and proselyte! No better way to spend a birthday than in the service of Him who gave us life and sustains us from day to day. After 20 years I finally spent one the right way! haha I am so excited for what the next year holds in store and for all the opportunities to learn, grow, and draw closer to the Savior. Not to mention I'll be back in the promised land by my next birthday, which is always a reason to smile bright! BTW shoot out to Austino92693 whose birthday it was/is back in the USofA. He's always been a day ahead of me but now with the time change I guess I'm a day ahead of him! haha.

The last 2 weeks have been crazy, it seems like there is never a moment to rest anymore! Between waking up at 5AM and fighting the worst traffic on the planet daily, it's a miracle in and of itself that Elder Kumar and I always have a little bit of energy left in the tank to teach whenever we get the chance.

Sorry I wasn't able to email last week I can't even remember what came up but we were busy. Oh yeah we visited the temple and got to see the wedding of Brother Benosa, an old assistant in QCNM (and one of Elder Kumar's ex-companions) to a SA who was in my ward in my first area, San Jose! It was so fun to get to see all the people from my first area and actually be able to hold a conversation with them in Tagalog! We got stuck at the temple copying an important file off of Brother Benosa'a hard drive. We also spent most of last weekend evacuating certain apartments within the mission due to extreme flooding in the area. It was a wild time driving through ponds of water, escorting missionaries to different areas where they could stay until the flooding resided. Elder Elms and his companion got to stay at our apartment for a night too which was fun. Almost every week it seems like we have at least 1 or 2 companionships come and stay the night at our house for various reasons.

This week was a little different in that President Bertin relied on us a lot to deal with some disobedience problems. He seems to have a lot of trust in us and has been using us a lot to take care of a little things before bringing missionaries in for bigger consequences. The coolest thing so far about our assignment is being able to look at things from a larger perspective and find solutions rather than problems. We had a District that was have conflict between some Elders. We took the time to commit each companionship individually to help include all elders in their meetings and gatherings. When we followed up several days later with the zone leaders they said they could already see a massive change in all the missionaries within the district, all because they stopped focusing on the negative problems and started focusing on the positive solutions that each could contribute.

I think I can make a broad statement that anything that ever needs to be deleted or hid is by very definition transgression because of a conflict of conscience, in-which the mind automatically follows the enticements of Lucifer as in the Garden of Eden, when he convinced our first parents to hide themselves. Anytime we catch ourselves needing to hide anything, we should pause to think of the reason. Most often I think we will find it is because we have been in error, sinned, and seek to cover it up. I would say leave it all open. Facebook, email, cellphones, everything. Desiring privacy is more than acceptable, but the habit of hiding is the recipe of unrighteousness. Long story short though this elder is now doing great and should bounce back quickly, hopefully becoming a senior companion again in the next couple of transfers.

The best part about travelling the mission is the opportunities for small acts and conversations that end up making big impacts on missionaries. I've noticed that for whatever reason a small act to let someone know that you care goes far longer than any sermon on Earth. Each day I come to know and love another missionary whom I would have otherwise never interacted with. Whenever I look at the transfer board all I can see is pure talent reserved for future leadership. This upcoming year (the last one of my mission YEEHAW!) I choose to work on the attribute of charity. More so specifically, the ability of viewing others with the self-same potential of becoming a divine and heavenly being. Of course only the most positive of thoughts can enter my mind when I think about Heavenly Father or Jesus Christ. Perhaps if I can start seeing others (no matter who they may be) with the same potential that Heavenly Father himself once/does still possess, then I can overcome my natural instinct to tear down and focus more on building up.

I've still got a long way to go on that one though, it may take me the rest of my life to even scratch the surface of true charity, but at least I'm better than I was yesteryear and I feel like I'm on the right track.

Hanggan sa Lupang Pangako,

Elder Krueger T

Crusin' Along in the Pines

Wedding Crasher

San Jose members (visiting Elder Krueger's first area)

Chillin' with the Elders from San Jose Del Monte

Elder Ballad was my companion for the day, so cool one of my favorite elders!